Mixing the Dirt

I've been playing with the "Big One" the last couple of days. It's a circa mid 1960's Paoli clay mixer. I'm still trying to figure out how it's best use is.

click on images to enlarge so you can see my
fancy hose shut off feature

I started by scrubbing the interior and rinsing. There was a fair amount of rusty bits in there. Then I dumped the red dirt of varying wetness/dryness.

crushing the dirt into smaller pieces

On top of the dirt I put in the rest of the dry materials.


The mixer goes "forward" and "backward" and I used this feature to keep the mix in the main mixing section. Yesterday I mixed a small batch of red dirt clay and today mixed up a big batch of the sandy version.

the sand station in the distance.
the sun and wind helped dry out
the sand which helped in sieving it.

We have a huge pile of sand left over from Stacey's paving project and it adds a bit more texture to the clay. I tested it out last firing as well as doing a calcium test with some muriatic acid. However, it contains some material that is too large. To get the little stones out I dried the sand and shook it through my sieve. I know, it does seem like a lot of trouble...but nothing but the best! (keepin' it local)
;-)

Here's the recipe. If you have a local red clay, fire in a wood kiln to about cone 9 1/2 and use salt, then you may get close.

45% red dirt (15 mesh)
35% fireclay (35 mesh)
4% ball clay
3% XX Sagger
13% g200 feldspar

i sent the clay through the machine
twice to get the consistency right!

stacked pugs

closeup

I'll use this clay for my white slip and wax resist work as well as my alkaline glaze.

Now it's off to the shop for some after supper pottery!

That's it for now.

The Official Blog of Chris Cooley: October 20th Art Show

Check ou this Redskin potter!
here

RIP: Dial Up

No pictures tonight(of the pottery frenzy that I whipped up), but I thought it would be fitting to say good bye to my old friend, my squelchy dial up compadre, my 56k modem. Many of you may have never heard one of these before, just as many of you probably never heard of a vacuum tube! But this will hopefully be my last post over the out-moded modem. We'll see if the cable company comes by in the morning as scheduled.

Fingers crossed.

I'm not sure how such a technological shift could mean for the blog. Hmmm, more videos? Hopefully I will be able to read more pottery blogs and respond with more comments than I've been able to of late. Maybe some live cam feeds from the work shop. Only time will tell. But for now, it's the pedal to the metal on the information super highway.

[awkward silence, confused looks]

Oh, nobody says that anymore?

OK...
I ask for your patience!
I'll try to catch up soon.
In the meantime, it is the pedal to the metal (or in my case, the petal) for XXXII, coming up really fast on October 4th!

A Couple of Jars

A day off today. Just working on small engines, the truck, and cutting cord wood with Stacey's uncle AJ, who's visiting from Colorado, via Knoxville.

:-D

Dental Details

A visit to the dentist again today and a new packing of the the old dry sockets! Oh a lovely way to start a pottery day. Then some packing and shipping of some pots for an exhibit at my alma mater, the U of T in Knoxville, with my friends, Ted Saupe, Sun Koo Yuh, Adelaide Paul, and Andy Nasisse! The show is entitled "Beyond Surface: Ceramics!!!" (my emphasis) I like the way that sounds. After all, you can't judge a book by it's cover!

After the packing of sockets and the packing of pots, I got around to slipping a bunch of plates. As has been my recent habit to play around as a slipware potter for a few plates, here are some highlights. I plan to paint some imagery in the centers with either wax or underglaze.

Clay Club Visits Wildacres Retreat

NC Clay Club had a very nice visit to nearby Wildacres retreat this evening. Mike, Kathryn, and Sarah House were our hosts.

They must have known about my recent preference for soft foods as we had a wonderfully flaky broiled telapia, the summer's best sweet potatoes, and a finely chopped cole slaw! It was delicious!

Mike took us on a tour of the campus complete with stories about the retreat and he and his family's involvement with the retreat over the past twenty years.

We ended our tour with a get together in the pottery shop.

fireplace, lounge, mission statement
some Native American pots in the collection

There will be a clay/ceramics gathering/workshop at Wildacres on the 28th of Sept. - October 2nd. Contact Mike at Wildacres for info.

Owen/Owens Catalog

Took my afternoon coffee break with this little catalog! I posted this on Facebook, but thought I would put this out there for my readers here. It's the cover of the catalog from a recent exhibit at the NC Pottery Center. Great images, great show. 30 pages, color and b/w photos, intoduction by Sally Peterson, Ph.D. and essay by Dr. Charlotte V. Brown. $8 + s/h, and well worth adding to your potter library.


The show is no longer up, but the catalog is available at NC Pottery Center bookstore. or Call them at 336-873-8430.

False Start

A week ago, Monday, what a day I had getting clay mixed, cutting wood, throwing pots! The kids were back in school! Everything was looking up for some big pottery fun!

[Tuesday: screeeeeeeech! ]

Stacey had scheduled me, innocently enough, for oral surgery to have my wisdom teeth pulled, well, the three that were left. I had been putting it off for years, and thought, that I'd better do it. Little did I know the week that I would have! I'll spare you the details and leave them for the DVD special features, whenever that comes out...just conjure an image of me in a anti biotic/pain killer induced zombified state. [number 9]

Now it's back to school for me after a month of I don't know what!? To be fair, in review (so I don't start feeling guilty or sorry for myelf) [number 9]grading pots for Etsy kiln opening, a week at the beach, photography with Joy and photoshopping 100 images, setting up Etsy, packing and shipping, cleaning up packing peanuts from the drive, cleaning and prepping shop for upcoming mega-session.

[number 9]

OK enough! It's up the hill I go for my 300' commute. Maybe even my first cup of Joe in a week!
I'll let you know how it goes, thanks for being there!

you are still there, aren't you?

[number 9]

Session 32 Begins!

It's been a very rainy summer here in the mountains, and at the end of August there is a slight mildew-y odor in the morning air. A lush carpet of grass in my yard has been impossible to keep up with but the rain has made for a beautiful bouquet on the hydrangea my mother gave us about three years ago. This bush was literally a foot long stick when it was planted. I think it likes this spot because it gets a lot of sun and the drain field of our septic system feeds it daily!

My lumber mill connection, Milan Street has been by three times now, and I've got my work cut out for a while. In this photo you are looking at 2/3rd's of the total amount needed to be cut. This is enough wood to fuel my kiln for the next year and probably enough cut off's that I can heat the shop. The key for me is to get it cut and stacked so that I can use it as soon as next month. I cut a pickup truck load of wood this evening and will try to cut every day.

This afternoon I pugged about 600 lbs of reclaim from the last session in the shop. I managed to throw a few plates after supper tonight. Most sessions begin with a whisper, with a few pots here and there, a loosening up of a distant memory I have of the wet process of throwing pots. Towards the end of a session, it's a juggling act of throwing painting, glazing, and firing the kiln. After the firing, there is a period of commerce, a distribution of the results.

With the Etsy online sale a success, and the pots shipped out, I re-focus on the excitement of wet clay. It's good to feel that the wheel is turning, and I'm excited about this 32nd firing. What will emerge from the intensity of focus in the coming weeks? Seems like I've done this a few times before but the results can't be predicted.

Tomorrow I head over the mountain to my home state of Tennessee to get my wisdom teeth pulled out. Fun! I'm not sure what kind of shape I'll be in to throw pots or cut wood, but this is a start and that's a lot for now.

I hope that I can recapture some momentum here at the blog after an eventful summer of regular visits to Penland, crazy weekly schedules, vacation, etc. Hope you'll be along and I hope you'll join in with a comment from time to time. It's always nice to hear from you!

Ning Slide Show

I just thought I would update my page on Ning with some of the beautiful images that Joy Tanner took for me a couple of weeks ago. Ning gave me the code for this slide show so that I could share with you here on the blog. I'm not sure if it will make the feed for Facebook. More pictures to follow this week.

Find more photos like this on Salt/Soda Firing